


If a Heart Can Be Broken

by Aisalynn



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-05-16
Packaged: 2018-01-24 23:43:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1621304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aisalynn/pseuds/Aisalynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The morning after Neal's coronation at Granny's was perfect--with the exception of a small hangover--until Walsh walked through the door.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If a Heart Can Be Broken

**Author's Note:**

> This was written because I didn't like how little they focused on the fact that Emma was ready to marry someone in New York. So I decided to give her a little closure.

They were having breakfast at Granny’s when he came in. Emma was hunched over her hot chocolate and the eggs and bacon Hook insisted would cure the lingering hangover from all the beer she drank at the celebration the night before. Henry seemed oblivious to her pain, sitting next to her in the booth and eagerly questioning Hook on every detail about their trip to the past. The pirate caught her eye when he described the ball—and the subsequent fight with the guards—to Henry and despite the pounding in her head Emma couldn’t help but return the smile he shot her. 

She was just wondering if she should have ordered coffee instead of hot chocolate when Hook stopped mid-sentence, sitting up in his chair as one hand went to his sword hilt. “Swan,” he muttered, and tipped his head in the direction of the door when she looked up at him in question. 

She turned around. 

Walsh was standing in the doorway. 

He was only halfway in the little diner, holding the door open as if unsure if he really wanted to go in, and he was scanning the room. His eyes caught on Emma sitting in the back and he paused. Emma just stopped herself from sighing and burying her aching head in her palms.

No doubt about it. She should have ordered the coffee. 

“What’s he doing here?” Henry asked. 

“That’s exactly what I am going to find out,” Emma muttered, setting down her hot chocolate and getting up from her seat. 

“Emma.” Hook caught her wrist before she could walk over and she turned around, surprised. “Maybe I should go with you,” he said seriously, glancing over her shoulder to shoot Walsh a dark look. 

She shook her head. “I’ll be fine. You should stay here with Henry.” He didn’t look convinced, and he didn’t let go of her wrist, so she moved in closer, lowering her voice. “Really,” she reached up with her other hand, gently wrapping it around his. “I’ve got my magic back, remember? If I could take on Zelena then I think I can handle one of her minions.” 

He looked up at her for moment, brows drawn, and then reluctantly, he nodded, releasing her. 

She shot Henry a smile. “Be back in a few, kid.” Then, with a deep breath, she marched over to the front of the diner, where Walsh was still waiting.

“Outside,” she practically barked at him, all too aware of all the eyes turned towards them in curiosity. Without waiting for an answer she marched out the door, squinting a little at the bright sunlight. He followed her, saying nothing until they were far enough away from the windows of the diner and she turned around to face him, hands on her hips. “I see Zelena’s spell wore off.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “It’s nice to have actual clothes again.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she sniped, “I thought you looked good in fur.”

“Right. Okay,” he muttered, one side of his mouth lifting in a nervous smile. He looked down and raised his right hand to rub lightly at the back of his neck and Emma’s stomach gave a little lurch at the familiar gesture. 

“What do you want?” she snapped, suddenly much angrier than she was before.

He took a deep breath, dropping his hand and finally meeting her eyes. “To apologize. For you know, New York.”

Emma crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

He huffed. “Look, I didn’t exactly have a choice. Zelena cursed me years ago when I was in Oz and once she did…” he trailed off, shrugging.

“What?” she asked, less angry now. “Did she control you? Like she could fi she had your heart?”

“In a way,” he replied. “It’s hard to explain.” He started pacing a little, his right hand going back to that spot on his neck. “She didn’t just take away my free will; she poisoned my thoughts, my emotions. I didn’t just follow her orders, I wanted to.” Emma stiffened, and he shook his head. “I’m not saying this right. From the moment she changed me into that monkey, I couldn’t help but want what she wanted, hate what she hated. I didn’t just serve her; I craved her praise, her approval.” He sat down on a bench a few feet away, bracing his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward with a sigh.

Slowly, Emma moved to sit down beside him. “So,” she said awkwardly, “you really were her pet.”

Walsh chuckled darkly. “Not exactly the proudest years of my life.” He sat up. “Anyway, when the curse broke so did her hold over me. Suddenly I could think straight again. I was me again. And everything I remember happening over the years look completely different to me now than they did when they were happening. So,” he shifted on the bench to look at her, “I’m sorry, Emma. For everything.”

She didn’t say anything, but studied him for a moment. His hair was a little bit longer, and curling at the ends, and she realized he was wearing the same clothes as the night she pushed him off the roof in New York. Emma looked away. Since leaving New York she had refused to think about Walsh, about the months—nearly a year—they had spent together before he revealed who really was, but now that she was forced to she realized thoughts of him didn’t hurt as much as she thought they would. 

“Okay,” she finally said, nodding. “Apology accepted.” He looked up in surprise, like he didn’t expect her to forgive him and she quickly changed the subject. “So what are you going to do now? You can’t go back to Oz.” 

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m actually from here, or well, I’m from Omaha, I just ended up in Oz by mistake.”

“Do you think you’ll go back home?”

Walsh shook his head. “There’s nothing for me there. When I left it I was planning on seeing the world, maybe I’ll try that again. Anyway,” he slapped his hands down on his thighs, and stood up. “I’m leaving Storybrooke today. I just wanted to talk to you before I did.” 

He stood in front of the bench for a moment, looking down at her with a small wistful smile. “You know,” he said quietly, reaching out to brush her hair away from her face, “I can’t help but wish we’d met under different circumstances, that it could have been real.”

She smiled apologetically. “Goodbye, Walsh.”

He nodded, once, and dropped his hand, slipping it into his pocket as he walked away. Emma remained seated, pondering how she could go from considering marrying a man to watching him walk out of her life with almost no emotion at all. 

 

She wasn’t sure how long she remained seated on the bench, but suddenly she wasn’t alone on it.

“You alright, love?” Hook asked as he sat down beside her. “You’ve been gone a while.”

Surprised, Emma looked around. “Where’s Henry?” Even though Zelena was dead Emma couldn’t help but be nervous about him being alone. 

“David’s with him,” Hook responded and Emma relaxed, slouching back against the bench so that their shoulders were pressed together. She could feel his body heat even though the leather and she realized suddenly just how chilly it was outside. She scooted closer to him. 

“Walsh is leaving,” she said quietly. 

“So I’ve heard.” When she looked up at him in question he smiled and shook his head a little. “Not much gets by the gossips at Granny’s.” 

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes a little. “Of course.”

They were quiet for a while. It was closer to mid-day now, and the town was busier. Despite the chill in the air the sun was still bright and Emma was glad that her headache had almost faded away. 

“I loved him,” she said quietly. Beside her Hook shifted, looking down at her face. “I mean, I almost said yes to marrying him, so I must have.” She watched the wind whip around the leaves of tree across the street from them. “But it wasn’t real. Just like all the memories I had of raising Henry.”

“Just because he faked it doesn’t mean it wasn’t real for you, love.”

She took a deep breath. “I suppose. And hey,” she looked up at him with a small smile, “if a heart can be broken, right?”

He didn’t smile back. “Is it?” he asked seriously, looking down at her with worried eyes. “Broken?” he clarified. 

Emma smiled softly up at him. “No,” she reached for his hand and shifted a little closer to him, interlacing their fingers together. “Not anymore.”

A slow smile lit up his face and Emma couldn’t help the matching one on hers, even as she knew that the small town’s nosy gossips were probably already running back to Granny’s ready to report that the Savior and Captain Hook were sitting on a public bench, holding hands and making doe eyes at each other. 

It didn’t matter. She leaned forward to press a soft kiss against his lips, and then, with a wicked grin, she deepened it, dropping his hand so she could thread her fingers through his hair. 

Might as well give them something good to talk about.


End file.
